Here - Epicurean Charlotte Food & Wine Magazine

juicy
morsels
une peu de cuisine française chaque jour
a little french cuisine every day
by zenda douglas
images by ashley blake summerlin
for the past five years, Café Monte Bakery & Bistro
has provided the South Park neighborhood and its
many visitors with classic French cuisine in a themed
setting that brings families and friends together as only a
bistro can do. In restaurant years, five years is a long time,
no doubt the result of an abundance of good decisions and
a multitude of satisfied and charmed customers. Café Monte
has earned its stature as a Charlotte landmark, one that,
for many, represents a really worthwhile habit.
“We started out thinking we would be a walk-through
French bakery counter,” says Monte Smith, owner of the
restaurant. “That idea lasted about two weeks,” he says with
a laugh. The response was so great that the menu quickly
expanded. “At the time, breakfast options were limited to the
local pancake house. We saw a niche for a higher end, European-style
bakery.” Now, patrons at Café Monte can enjoy a
gourmet brunch every day until 3 p.m., a rarity in Charlotte.
Smith’s keen eye and talent for filling niches has continued,
and Café Monte has evolved into today’s full-service restaurant.
“We wanted people to have a place where they could
have breakfast, lunch and dinner in a gourmet restaurant,
where French cuisine was accessible for everyone at a good
value and where they could escape from the everyday.”
Upon entering Café Monte, patrons walk past the bakery
showcase filled with croissants, rolls, tarts, cakes and
meringues. Past wrought-iron dividers between the bar
and dining room, guests settle into cushioned, canedback
chairs placed on hardwood floors. Warm colors wrap
around each table, and the entire room which seats 120.
The dining room is lively but close and cozy.
Over time, Smith has added a beautiful bar area for a
stop-by or a relaxing pre-dinner drink, and live jazz music
on Friday and Saturday nights enhances the dinner hours.
For breakfast lovers—early or late—there is no more
an important stop than Café Monte. Choose between
the Parisian Omelette with tomatoes, spinach, gruyere
and roasted red pepper; the French Country Breakfast
with smoked salmon, crab, lobster, scallions and tomato;
the Benedict Monte with toasted English muffin, two
eggs, Canadian bacon and hollandaise and so many more
fabulous egg dishes and omelets. Steak au poivre, Belgian
waffles and smoked ham crêpes with four-cheese cream
make for excellent choices throughout the day.
Fresh salads such as baby spinach, arugula and goat
cheese with cranberry walnut vinaigrette and endive with
green apple, bleu cheese, candied walnut and Dijon vinaigrette
adorn the lunch menu. When considering the long
list of delicious sandwiches, don’t overlook the traditional
Croque Monsieur. New on the menu is the Beef Short Rib
Baguette with caramelized onions, provolone and arugula
salade. Go large for lunch with Trout Amandine, Herb
Basted Salmon or Lobster and Crab Crêpes.
Of course you can save the day for a quiet, comfortable
French dinner, suitable for the entire family. Enjoy an Herb
Roasted Half Chicken with pearl onions, baby carrots and
mushrooms or Beef Short Rib Bourguignonne with petite
vegetables, each served with mashed potatoes.
Smith is the executive chef at Café Monte; Rick
Donaldson is the chef de cuisine. Smith credits corporate
chef Justin Mendenhall for much of the menu design.
“He’s a partner, chef and long-time friend.”
Smith was influenced early on by food and culture as a
child in La Paz, Bolivia, where his parents were missionaries.
He would walk down to the corner store to get saltema,
a Bolivian-style empanada or meat pie. His family often ate
fresh water salmon out of Lake Titicaca. He returned to
the United States and worked his way through college in
the restaurant industry but quickly returned to the international
life, securing his first position in Peru’s famous Hotel
Crillon and traveling extensively through South America.
After receiving his Masters in International Marketing
Management from The American Graduate School of
International Management (Thunderbird), Smith accepted
employment with Palm. For the next several years, he developed
high-end restaurants in Mexico. When Palm made a
deal to develop a restaurant in Charlotte, Smith and his
young family agreed to make the move back to the States.
“Every restaurateur’s tour dream is to develop a
concept and see it to fruition. Part of mine is having the
opportunity to be in the neighborhood with clients I know,”
says Smith. “Every year is a milestone. My goal is to have
20 milestones at Café Monte.”
“We are extremely grateful to the community, neighbors
and friends for having supported us so well during our
growth. We’re excited about serving this community for a
long time to come.”E
parisian omelette
Epicurean Charlotte Food & Wine
Celebrates Five-Year Anniversary
herb basted salmon
The first cover of Epicurean Charlotte Food & Wine
magazine featured Monte Smith and his—at the
time—new French restaurant, Café Monte Bakery &
Bistro. Brown paper that was covering the windows
had to be removed for the photo shoot, sawdust still
sprinkled the floor. The photographer’s lights were
powered by the renovation contractor’s generator.
Paintings were hastily affixed to walls with Velcro.
Café Monte would soon open to a hearty welcome from the South
Park neighborhood. It was a new beginning for French cuisine in Charlotte,
coinciding with the beginning of a new magazine that covered it.
Epicurean Charlotte Food & Wine has followed Café Monte,
as well as hundreds of other restaurants, through the past five years.
Our love affair with all things food and wine has guided us as we’ve
told you about all the wonderful, delicious and unique cuisine to be
found in the Charlotte region. You’ve allowed us to help you choose
that perfect bottle of wine. You've given us the opportunity to turn
you on to everything from seasonings and gourmet ingredients to
culinary techniques and the optimal wine glass. We’ve helped you
celebrate your grand moments and even told you how to successfully
take your kids out to dinner. Thank you for these opportunities.
Our job is rewarding as we watch the Charlotte culinary scene
change and grow, and it’s fun!
Keep celebrating Charlotte cuisine with Epicurean Charlotte Food
& Wine magazine.
8 www.epicureancharlotte.com volume 5 • issue 2 epicurean charlotte food & wine march • april 2013 9